Marianne Faithfull - Broken English
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Free Music Notes for Broken English
Free Music Review: Marianne Faithfull's Broken English - a true "masterpiece"
Hit: 5 Stars
Marianne Faithfull's "Broken English" was released in 1979 to a musical world suffering from a disco hangover while riding a punk tidal wave. Marianne, herself, was an under-rated pop songstress who had successes in the sixties. But, the seventies were not kind to her, personally and professionally, and what music she did produce tended to be heard by only the most die-hard of fans. As such, few really expected much from Marianne Faithfull, musically. But, boy did she deliver the goods with "Broken English". Critically acclaimed as a classic and a true "masterpiece", "Broken English" took the musical world by storm. Based on the glowing reviews, I did what I never do - I went out and bought the record without ever hearing a single note of music from it. Regrets? I should say not!!! Twenty years later, "Broken English" is still my all-time favorite and I play it often. I could never tire of it as it is a timeless piece of music that is as fresh and vital today as it was when it was released twenty years ago. What sets this record apart is the masterful blending of excellent songs, excellent musical support, excellent production and last, but certainly not least, the raw, unique and soulful voice of Marianne Faithfull. Her voice is an art form in and of itself. From the opening chords of the wonderful title song "Broken English" to the final refrains of the naughty but supurb "Why'D Ya Do It", this record takes you on a wild ride that leaves you breathless and wanting for more. Though there is not a bad song on the record, my personal favorites, aside from the two already mentioned, include the haunting "Witches Song", "Guilt", "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan", and her wonderful version of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero". One listen and I was hooked, a true fan for life of the music and artistry of Marianne Faithfull. Considering buying "Broken English"? Do as I did - buy it without even listening to a single note from it. It is sure to make you a fan for life too! Did she rest on her laurels with "Broken English"? No! Check her other music as well as she continued to put out some really excellent music to the present day. Then, go back and check out her older pop music and you will see why I say she was under-rated. That she was voted 25th by her peers on the list of 100 Greatest Women in Music, as produced by VH1, is no fluke. Marianne Faithfull is certainly one of the greatest musical stylists ever and "Broken English" is certainly her "masterpiece".Free Music Review: Platinum-certified return from a true rock & roll survivor!
Hit: 5 Stars
Even as she had hits in the '60s with "As Tears Go By" (written by her paramour Mick Jagger), Marianne Faithfull was primarily known as Jagger's girlfriend, and any sort of talent she may have possessed was not worth noting. But after she and Mick called it off, Faithfull began a slow recovery back into both her music and her life. Heroin addiction had sent Faithfull on a nightmarish journey that would be effectively captured on the Rolling Stones' classic "Sister Morphine". Marianne wouldn't get her chance to do good until 1979 with her highly-acclaimed comeback BROKEN ENGLISH. She had recorded a few albums before this, but they were tentative efforts before BROKEN ENGLISH effectively announced her return. Those who listened were in for a surprise, especially those who first heard her as the virginal voice of "As Tears Go By". Years of drug addiction had caused 33-year old Faithfull's voice to lower to a much more raspy, war-weary groan, but only that voice could have sung the material on BROKEN ENGLISH. "Guilt", Shel Silverstein's "The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan" and "Witches' Song" all find Marianne creating true-to-life personas that all hit home even more with her scarred, yet still resonant voice. I'm always on the verge of sadness every time I hear those songs. Others like the title track, "Brain Drain" and "What's The Hurry?" are somewhat lighter, but not too much. Maybe it's the state-of-the-art new-wave production that the album actually benefits from and not dates it all. If the bulk of BROKEN ENGLISH finds Faithfull as a vulnerable waif, the last two songs display her as a woman quite angry with her past. Her cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" has her dismissing her early musical career and her decadence as much as Lennon used it to break away from the Beatles. If that wasn't enough, "Why D'Ya Do It?" has Marianne not just angry, but livid. Maybe it's about Mick Jagger more than anything else, and it seems she still has an axe to grind years after their separation. The first listen to it is a tremendous shocker, and it still is many listens later. BROKEN ENGLISH was widely hailed by critics and audiences alike on its release, going platinum without the aid of a huge hit single. Even better, it sounds like a debut album from a totally different artist, which in many ways it is. "As Tears Go By", be damned. This is Marianne Faithfull at her most naked and emotional.Free Music Review: All Life Is A Process Of Breaking Down
Hit: 5 Stars
Broken English was the aural centrifuge by which Marianne Faithfull finally flung herself to bits, for all the world to see and hear. Some of the bits thereupon were rendered obsolete, some picked at by the vultures that descended, some retrieved and held cherished by those who valued her. For those of us who made the retrievals and joined Marianne's course in piecing Marianne back together -- as if emulating her beloved Mary W. Shelley of FRANKENSTEIN renown -- what a treasure we have found. True fans of Marianne Faithfull realize this and are bonded by the intimacy of the experience. MARIANNE FAITHFULL IS THE PERFORMER OF CHOICE FOR THOSE WHO DESIRE INTELLIGENCE, PASSION AND REALISM IN THEIR MUSIC. I cannot think of another performer today -- barring Dylan, perhaps -- who so consistently combines all three. This record is at its best when it's sloppy-good, just like Dylan when he's sloppy-good. The title track, `though Euro-hip and politicized, is arguably the least substantial statement on the album. Such is the first of the dark ironies which pervade this record, all illuminated in the hot sparks of Marianne's fractured voice. Simply sequence the deceptively innocuous-sounding "Witches' Song" ("Danger is great joy/Dark is bright as fire"), the self-affirmation of "Guilt" (like feeling around for oneself in the dark), "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" (its truncated ending like the warm wind in your hair), "What's The Hurry?" (a staccatoed drug haze like stepping on razors), and the mortally bruising "Why D'Ya Do It?" (the feminine facsimile of black rage and Marianne's "Sister Ray"), and witness an actual woman fending the world, finding beauty in the ugliness, and ugliness in the beauty too.Free Music Review: All Life Is A Process Of Breaking Down
Hit: 5 Stars
Broken English was the aural centrifuge by which Marianne Faithfull finally flung herself to bits, for all the world to see and hear. Some of the bits thereupon were rendered obsolete, some picked upon by the vultures that descended, some were retrieved and held cherished by those who valued her. For those of us who made the retrievals and joined Marianne's course in piecing Marianne back together -- as if emulating her beloved Mary W. Shelley of FRANKENSTEIN renown -- what a treasure we have found. True fans of Marianne Faithfull realize this and are bonded by the intimacy of the experience. MARIANNE FAITHFULL IS THE PERFORMER OF CHOICE FOR THOSE WHO DESIRE INTELLIGENCE, PASSION AND REALISM IN THEIR MUSIC. I cannot think of another performer today -- barring Dylan, perhaps -- who so consistently combines all three. This record is at its best when it's sloppy-good, just like Dylan when he's sloppy-good. The title track, `though politicized and Euro-hip, is arguably the least substantial statement on the album. Thus begin the dark ironies which pervade this album, all brought to light in Marianne's fractured voice. Simply sequence the deceptively innocuous-sounding "Witches' Song" ("Danger is great joy/Dark is bright as fire"), the self-affirming "Guilt", "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan" (the truncated ending like the warm wind in your hair), "What's The Hurry?" (staccato-sung drug haze like stepping on razors), and the mortally bruising "Why D'Ya Do It?" (the feminine facsimile of black rage and Marianne's "Sister Ray"), and witness an actual woman fending the world, finding beauty in the ugliness, and ugliness in the beauty too.Free Music Review: "Broken English" Rages At Tears Gone By
Hit: 5 Stars
...No one was prepared for the transformation of Marianne Faithfull's innocent flower child image. The "Broken English" Marianne was a snarling, black leather punk spewing vitriol at all that was sacred about the 60's. Her voice had dropped to a smoky and seductive alto, ravaged by the scars of age and excess. It may have served as a footnote to her career, but Marianne Faithfull's naked honesty was so compelling that it resembled the brooding poetry of Baudelaire's "Flowers of Evil." Producer Angelo Badalamenti captured just the right amount sylish Euro-pop electronics to compliment Marianne's husky rasps. ... In the song "Why D'Ya Do It", Marianne rages at an unfaithful boyfriend with just about every epithet unsuitable for use in "polite" society. "Lucy Jordan" is a despairing ballad of a 37 year old housewife who realizes that she will never fulfill her dream of "riding through Paris, in a sports car, with the warm wind in her hair." The heartfelt cover of John Lennon's "Working Class Hero" resculpts the song into a cry of the doomed outsider, as effective as Pink Floyd's "The Wall." The high point of the album is "Guilt" where Marianne's simmering resentment of feeling guilt becomes a self-exorcism her own victimization by drugs, fame and fortune. "Broken English" is a turning point for both Marianne Faithfull and the context of popular music in 1979. "Broken English" was tremendously influential in laying the ground-work for a generation of young female musicians to strip away the transparent sheen from modern sexual relationships and speak frankly about bedroom politics.